Numerical Simulation of the Double Slit Interference with Ultracold Atoms

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates a numerical simulation of ultracold atom double slit interference using Feynman path integrals and de Broglie-Bohm trajectories, providing insights into wavefunction evolution and wave-particle duality.

Contribution

It introduces a combined approach using Feynman path integrals and Bohmian trajectories to simulate and analyze ultracold atom interference experiments.

Findings

Successful simulation of wave function evolution after slit exit.

Visualization of Bohmian trajectories illustrating wave-particle duality.

Insights into the interpretation of quantum behavior in interference experiments.

Abstract

We present a numerical simulation of the double slit interference experiment realized by F. Shimizu, K. Shimizu and H. Takuma with ultracold atoms. We show how the Feynman path integral method enables the calculation of the time-dependent wave function. Because the evolution of the probability density of the wave packet just after it exits the slits raises the issue of the interpreting the wave/particle dualism, we also simulate trajectories in the de Broglie-Bohm interpretation.